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Ars Asks: What video games will still be widely played in 100 years?

In today’s inter-holiday news doldrums, the Ars IRC channel has descended into a deep debate over the kind of question that seems perfectly suited for a late-night dorm room bull session. It’s a question that seems simple on the surface, but it requires investigating issues of game design mutability, the evolution of taste, commerce, and even digital code preservation to unpack fully.

The question is this: What video games that exist today, if any, will still be widely played for fun by people living 100 years from now?

The germ of the question came from Chess Grandmaster Garry Kasparov, of all people, who used a trip to South Korea’s Youth Mind Sports Fair to tweet about the longevity of chess, as compared to today’s hot “e-sports.” While Kasparov was respectful of video games and their unique artistic qualities, he was skeptical that any digital game could have the centuries-long impact of a board game like chess.